Storage Wars Lawsuit: Lockers Were Staged

News of a Storage Warslawsuit has hit the reality TV world like a ton of dusty old packing boxes. Now that more details of the claims that David Hester are making about the show have been revealed, it’s starting to sound a little more believable to me.

I was with this show from the very beginning, and I’ll be honest, it never really occurred to me that it could be staged. Sure, it’s not that far fetched, but I just figured that somehow regular people left some really interesting things in storage and just stopped paying their bills.

Anyway, the claim made by Hester is that producers would stop filming right in the middle of things and plant intriguing items in the lockers. The bidders featured on the show would then pretend to be really excited… doesn’t Barry come to mind on this one?

Part of the claim is that it originally started off as a secret, where producers would do it without letting the cast know.

Can you imagine how cheesy Dave, Barry, or Darryl feel knowing that some of the things they found in lockers were planted? That would piss me off… if this is true.

RadarOnline printed a quote that claims to have some kind of paper trail:

“There are invoices, checks and other documentation where the production company actually compensated cast members for supplying items that were planted in the lockers and then ‘discovered’ on camera,”

The suit says that some of the cast members would provide producers with quirky items and would be paid a rental fee. The item would then end up in a locker that was actually bought, but the item would be slipped in after the purchase.

After complaining about the practice being possibly “illegal,” Hester says the producers stopped planting items in his lockers, which gave the other guys an unfair advantage which ultimately cost him money.

The fast-talking auction master, Dan, says it’s a bunch of nonsense. He points out that the lockers are sealed prior to being bid on. It’s hard to tell what’s true anymore:

A final claim is that there were special lockers that were just altogether faked. In other words, no one ever owned them. They were just set up with a bunch of junk and random items for the show.

Hester apparently claims that he got upset about the staging and went to executives, but was shooed away.

Now fired, Hester is seeking millions in damages relating to claims of breach of contract, wrongful termination in violation of public policy and three other counts.

This could be some ploy to manipulate and exploit by Hester, who doesn’t seem like he would think twice about swindling someone.

If this is true, I’m heart broken. The show is pretty cool…if it’s real.